Music and Conversation with 2016 Ojai Music Festival Director and Performing Artists

Friday, May 13, 2016

7:00 PM

Event Partners

Groundbreaking opera, theater, and festival director Peter Sellars has gained international renown for his transformative interpretations of artistic masterpieces and for his collaborative projects with an extraordinary range of creative artists.

Sellars joins Q2 Music host Helga Davis (Einstein on the Beach) to share performances by select musicians from the 2016 Ojai Music Festival in California, where Sellars will be serving as music director. He will also share insights and anecdotes from a prodigious, colorful and unique career as a driving force in the creation of new music and bringing 20th and 21st century operas to the stage.

Sellars has worked with a range of leading musical luminaries, including longtime collaborator John Adams (Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer), soprano Dawn Upshaw, composer Kaija Saariaho, choreographer Mark Morris, director Reza Abdoh, and countless more. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Erasmus Prize, and the Gish Prize, and in 2014 he was awarded the prestigious Polar Music Prize and named Artist of the Year by Musical America.

From its founding in 1947, the Ojai Music Festival has created a place for unique musical experiences, bringing together innovative artists and curious audiences in an intimate, idyllic setting 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The four-day festival is a complete immersive experience with concerts, free community events, symposia, and gatherings. Mr. Sellars will serve as music director for the 70th edition of this new-music mecca.

This is the second year Q2 Music is partnering with California’s Ojai Music Festival. The first year featured on-demand audio from past festivals and hosted shows by 2013 Ojai music director Mark Morris. Listen here.